ampage Tube Amps / Music Electronics	For current discussions, please visit Music Electronics Forum.

ampage archive

Vintage threads from the first ten years

hot tip for putting labels on stompboxes

:

6/7/2000 2:52 AM

hot tip for putting labels on stompboxes

hey i thought i'd let everyone know that upon working at staples i noticed that we carry this 1/4" white vinyl stick-on letter...they are rather small so you have to use tweezers to put them on...

but after spraying the primer and then all the layers of paint you want on the box, put the letters on then spray few to several clear coats on to seal the labels so they don't come off and so that the pedal overall looks nice and shiny...just like it came off the production lines!

i bought 2 packs of these myself...they have them in black as well...the brand is: HEADLINE SIGN...they are put out by U.S. Stamp and Design...

the upc code for the white ones is:

"083392040120"

thought i'd pass this info along!

Johnathan

6/7/2000 3:04 AM
Joe	Cool, sounds like a real good idea. Thanks for the tip! Maybe I'll upgrade my anodizing machine with new labels instead of my handwritten ones

6/7/2000 10:19 AM

Johnathan,

IMHO, shiny is bad! All my home-mades look very similar and if the lighting is bright, the reflection off the shiny surface obsures the labelling and I can't easily tell which pedal is which. I learned the hard way to use satin finish clear coat which is a little better for a non-reflective surface. Maybe the vinyl lettering is raised enough to overcome this problem. I've been using the decal paper from Micro-Mark, which awesome! I've even included some clip-art graphics on a couple of boxes I just finished. I found small pictures of a rocket and a hornet on the internet, now if I can only figure out what a Shaka Braddah looks like :-)

:-)

6/9/2000 6:21 PM

JD -

I think that the "Shaka Braddah" is the name of the "surfer" wave. The motion of your hand with just the pinky and thumb protruding. Aron should jump in on this one. But if this is it, it doesn't seem like that would be that hard to draw or even find on the internet. Of course, I could be wrong, I'm originally from Vermont which is about as far away from surfer-world (other than say, North Dakota) that I can imagine.

Seperate topic - I've been on the road a TON lately, so I apologize for not getting back to you. I did get your email, and have no problem setting something up, but right now my band's manager and myself are talking to the Brewery's owner about doing something Mon and Tues nights that is more centered around musicians, but not to the point of being open mike. I tossed around the idea of an "effects" convention and he seemed really interested. I would like to pursue this first to see if we can get a larger crowd or just simply more interest. But if you think we should do something smaller with just our little internet group let me know, I doubt I will have any problem setting that up. I'll drop you a line over email with a couple of idea that I have.

Take care and be safe,

Jay Doyle

6/9/2000 6:41 PM
aron	JD, You are correct. It is the hand motion you do when you say "hello" to people. Apparently this originally came from a man who lost his 3 middle fingers when he was working for the local train station. That didn't stop him from waving to people with his remaining thumb and pinky. Aron

6/10/2000 10:35 AM

Aron,

Thanks for the information. I grew up in Iowa, so...well never mind. I've had the privilege of visiting Hawaii twice, so far. Never did any surfing, but got turned on to some great local music (slack key guitar) last time I was there.

The great thing about the Miro-Mark decals is if you buy the Finishing system kit, you can add more decals to your pedals at any time after you have finished them! It comes with little bottles of clear coat. And again, I highly recommend their decal paper and Decal Softening solution.

JD

6/9/2000 4:56 PM

I just finished labeling a box last night. For the first time, I used the kind of lettering that you rub on (burnish is the term I believe). These work excellent, they are not raised up off of the box like vinyl stickers will do. I got them at my local art store pretty cheap. It is tedious... I had to use a pair of tweezers & a dental tool (it has a really fine metal point to hold things in place) in order to layout the letters evenly. The BEST way to do this is to first draw a line with a ruler on a white piece of paper, then take a clear piece of tape and lay it down over the line with the sticky side up. Then apply a piece of tape at both ends of the tape that is facing sticky side up & secure it to the paper. Now you have a visible straight edge to make sure that all you letters line up. Now, lay your letters onto to the tape in reverse order (mirror image) along the visible line. When done pull the tape up, fip it over, stick it to your box & burnish (I also found that a ballpoint pen that is empty works great for burnishing). After your done, apply clear coat. This ends up looking very professional... I am really pleased with the results I got!!!!!!

What other methods are people using... I am very interested in hearing.

Page 1 of 4